Course Description
Understanding and practicing the conventions of scholarship in English Studies.
Athena Title
The Critical Essay
Non-Traditional Format
This course is writing intensive, which means that the course will include substantial and ongoing writing assignments that a) relate clearly to course learning; b) teach the communication values of a discipline—for example, its practices of argument, evidence, credibility, and format; and c) prepare students for further writing in their academic work, in graduate school, and in professional life. The written assignments will result in a significant and diverse body of written work (the equivalent of 6000 words or 25 pages) and the instructor (and/or the teaching assistant assigned to the course) will be closely involved in student writing, providing opportunities for feedback and substantive revision.
Prerequisite
Two 2000-level ENGL courses or (one 2000-level ENGL course and one 3000-level ENGL course) or (one 2000-level ENGL course and one 2000-level CMLT course)
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
The primary goal of the course will be to initiate students into the academic dialogue practiced by scholars of English. To this end, students will study the major academic journals in which scholars publish in order to discover the conventions of the on-going conversation in our discipline(s). Further, each student will join this scholarly conversation by producing a research-based, academic paper of 20 to 30 pages in length about some aspect of English Studies to be workshopped in stages throughout the drafting process.
Topical Outline
1. The nature and range of scholarship in English Studies 2. Forms and methods of scholarship 3.Ongoing debates within English Studies 4. The academic dialogue and scholarly publication, journals, and the peer-review process 5. The research process and literature reviews 6. The composing process and the critical essay 7. The revision and editing processes